United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Makes New $10.56 Million Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 89,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $10,557,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 14.7% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,703,000 after buying an additional 8,655 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $143.62 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $130.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.78. The stock has a market cap of $107.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company’s revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 115.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.43.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $137.17 per share, for a total transaction of $50,890.07. Following the acquisition, the director owned 42,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,787,065.13. The trade was a 0.89% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $4,066,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 869,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,883,632.95. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders bought 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.